rules for a 'Knife Only' challenge?

[barbourdurham]

I'm thinking about doing the 'Knife Only' challenge that Leigh Robinson did on his YT channel some time ago.Apologies for the name drop......

My question regarding the challenge is: does it matter what type of knife I use? I have the following to choose from:

Victorinox RangerGrip 79 (my EDC, a large folding pocket knife with a saw blade as well)
SWC Woodlore (pre-RM contract....)
Knivsmed Stromeng KS9 ( a recent trade and turnmg out to be a very useful knife, if a little big for discretion.....)

What y'all think?

 

[sunndog]

Nah, if you are only allowing yourself a knife as kit then you should get to choose whatever you like.....i s'pose the spirit of the challenge say's you shouldn't choose one with a survival kit strapped to it, but then again it is YOUR challenge

Do you think any one of those three would give you a huge advantage over the others?. I don't, and i don't even know what the third one is lol

 

[woodsrunner]

The Stromeng of course!...knife only means knife only and not knife and a saw...besides Stromeng is as you say "a very useful knife"!...luck...woods

 

[SCOMAN]

But does the challenge a fire steel?

 

[Limaed]

I did a military survival course a few years ago and we were only issued with a SAK and a few other items. The course was scenario based on survival post an aircraft crash as the SAK is standard fast jet survival pack issue in the UK. Having done other courses previously I really missed a strong fixed blade and a decent folding saw, that said the SAK performed reasonably well for the tasks presented.
I think its harder to chose between the Stromeng and the Woodlore, I'm pushed towards the Woodlore as the small size is easier to carve with and in theory you can then make the things you need to complete the challenge.
The Stromeng has more chopping / splitting power and the extra length would be useful for certain tasks - I've used mine for cutting large amounts of foliage / braken / reeds for insulation / shelter building etc.
I think its a good learning experience to see what you can achieve with different / less suitable tools, let us know how you get on.

 

[barbourdurham]

mmm....... so, I won't use the Vic. Even though it is my EDC without fail, I will stick to a 100% knife only challenge. I have had my woodie since 2006 and its had a lot of years of use. I am rather familiar with it and very fond of it. On the other hand, I havent had the KS9 for very long, but I have used it for a number of ocassions on day trips and i am getting used to its versatility..... I think I will take the KS9.

 

[mick91]

Id say if its knife only, pick the knife you want. Personally id be tempted to go for a bigger fixed blade, but it depends on the work you're doing with it and your proficiency with the knife at hand. For instance I can be quite deft with my Bradley bowie that's much bigger than my F1 while clumsy with the F1.

 

[sunndog]

The longer knife will give you more chopping power which will get your shelter and firewood sorted quicker and with less effort
Its gonna be a short trip i assume so shelter and warmth would be more of a priority than fanny'ing about with fine carving tasks, your ks9 will make a bow drill and i imagine throw a spark
never gone so far as 'knife only' myself but i have done plenty of knife or axe with, cook pot, and small belt pouch trips when i was younger
i reckon i spent much longer and way more energy trying to make a knife do axe work than i did doing knife work with an axe

Good luck with it either way fella

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Do you have a link to the original post.

 

[SCOMAN]

Just watched Leigh's video. Impressive, hats off to him. I would struggle with fire.

 

[forestwalker]

Just looked at the original video: interesting and a good illustration of reality.

Took him hours to build the shelter (and he still was only able to get a poor nights sleep). Shelter building takes time, at least for good shelters under most conditions. I wonder how that shelter would have stood up against rain: I have never built one with just fresh greenery like that (boreal forest). Anyone with experience?

Fire: can be hugely uncertain unless you are very experienced. If it had been pouring rain it would have been trickier, to say the least.

Water: I'm really lucky, living where I generally can drink any water I find, without the old bear can it would have been trickier to purify the water (someone once claimed that "Prippus vulgaris" -- Pripps is one of the larger beer breweries in Sweden -- is one of the more abundant weeds in some areas...)

One additional part of the challenge would have been to start it in the afternoon: that is when most actual short term survival situations start. And skip the knife to make it even harder.